The Sony Alpha 1 - short-hand as 'A1' (well, α1 if you want to be proper with the symbol) - is its 2021 professional spec camera. And it really is pro spec, given how fast this thing's processing is.

The A1 packs a massive punch of a feature set, clearly looking to attract would-be Canon EOS 1D X III and Nikon D6 purchasers in what should (might?) be an Olympic year.

Principle to that is its 50.1-megapixel full-frame sensor, which is a stacked construction for best light-handling potential, as one of the highest resolution Sony cameras on the market (the A7R IV is actually higher still, at 61MP).

But that's not all. As this is an SLT - that's single lens translucent, so it's not technically a DSLR - light can pass through a translucent shutter to ensure always-operational phase-detection autofocus. We already know Sony can do that incredibly fast, too.

The A1, however, brings in an ultra-fast shutter mechanism - it can flash sync at 1/400th a second, it's that absurdly fast to fully open - which means 30fps continuous shooting at full resolution is possible with no blackout.

Read that again: 50.1-megapixels at 30 frames per second, so one billion five hundred and three million pixels, or 1503MP per second. That's bonkers processing from the Bionz XR engine.

Elsewhere there's 5-axis in-body stabilisation, and a built-in 0.64-inch, 9.44m-dot OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) with a speedy 240fps refresh rate, so you'll never miss a beat.

Add to that 8K video with professional grade and capture levels, and it's no surprise the Alpha 1's asking price will be £/$6,500 body-only when the camera launches this March.